What a wonderful surprise to find a small, fresh split-turkey breast in my supermarket. This special find fulfilled my goal of purchasing poultry that fits my criteria: Humanely Raised; Vegetarian Fed; No Antibiotics; No Growth Hormones. Thank you, Plainville Farms. www.plainvillefarms.com Check out their website or on Facebook.
The simplicity of my recipe for roasting the fresh split-turkey breast on a bed of cut veggies made up of carrots, celery and onions creates a magical sauce in the bottom of the roasting pan. The flavor dripping off of the cooking turkey into the vegetables under and around the turkey breast makes a gravey that is sweet and light in texture and flavor.
If you want to enhance and thicken this gravey, just add flour mixed in some cold water, add it to the gravey in a small saucepan, heat and stir until the gravy is your style. That's it. All done.
Preparation time before cooking is about 15 minutes.
Cooking time about one hour and forty-five minutes, depending on oven temperature accuracy and size of the turkey breast. The size of this split-turkey breast is 2.58 ounces and will serve six to eight people if serving about 4 ounces per person. (or cook and freeze small portions for fewer numbers of people eating.)
Test for doneness: A meat thermometer should read 170-175 degrees F. or
until juices flow clearly with a prick into the turkey breast meat.
During the cooking process, if you check the turkey breast and see that it is browning on top, cover lightly with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent further browning and drying out.
If you notice the vegetables have very little water around them, just add a bit more for the duration of the cooking process.
Ingredients:
Carrots, 2 medium, peeled and sliced
Celery, 1 stalk, peeled and sliced
Onion, 1/2 sweet onion, sliced
Split-turkey Breast
Salt, 1 teaspoon
Black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon, crushed
Paprika, 1 teaspoon
Olive oil, 1/4 cup dripped over the turkey breast
Water, 1/4 cup cold
Preparation:
Have oven rack in the center of the oven
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Wash and pat dry the turkey breast
Wash and dry carrots and celery. Peel and slice
Peel and slice the onion
Put all uncooked vegetables in the bottom of a roasting pan
Put the turkey breast on top of the uncooked veggies
Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika on top of the uncooked turkey breast
Drip olive oil on top of the turkey breast
Add water around the vegetables in the roasting pan
Put the roasting pan with the uncooked turkey breast and vegetables into the oven on the center rack placement.
Roast the split-turkey breast until done.
Take the roasting pan out of the oven, cover the turkey breast with some aluminum foil and let stand without cutting for about 15 minutes to let all the juices remain in the turkey breast, leaving each slice moist and flavorful.
